1984 has finally arrived, folks

Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrantsProposed law scheduled for a vote next week originally increased Americans' e-mail privacy. Then law enforcement complained. Now it increases government access to e-mail and other digital files.

A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law.

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Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.

It's an abrupt departure from Leahy's earlier approach, which required police to obtain a search warrant backed by probable cause before they could read the contents of e-mail or other communications. The Vermont Democrat boasted last year that his bill "provides enhanced privacy protections for American consumers by... requiring that the government obtain a search warrant."

And if you think that's bad- check out what I found the other day while looking for a job on Craig's List:

Startup Applied Neuroscience Company seeking a Videographer to create a taped simulation for a proof-of-concept demonstration for government scientists, military and IC acquisition decision-makers.

Overview: Veritas Scientific Corporation is an applied neuroscience startup company based in Arlington, VA. It is currently developing NeuroTruth technology, which will provide brainwave-based deception and threat detection for the National Security industry. This transformative technology will revolutionize the nature of our National Security in all forms of interrogation, threat screening, distinguishing "friend from foe," and pioneering prevention intervention.

Responsibilities:
Veritas Scientific is looking for an experienced industry professional who can quickly grasp complex technologies and produce an effective product demonstration for potential clients. The selected candidate will work with a product development team and a marketing director. The applicant should have previous experience directing, shooting, and editing film.

Specifically, the applicant will:

- Coordinate resources (human and otherwise) for shooting the simulation film

- Create and adhere to a tight shooting schedule

- Edit the film into a tight, persuasive demonstration of our technology's capabilities

Eligibility:
Seeking a professional with multimedia/product demonstration experience. Neuroscience/technology expertise is desirable.

1. Why in the world is a Democratic senator pushing for this?

3. I have had doubts about Leahy since AttorneyGate and Gonzales.

He talked tough, but did NO follow up on his threats to cite Rove for contempt of Congress ( failing to honor a Senate Comm. subpoena) and nothing really happened after all Leahy's smoke and mirrors investigating of Bush's Justice Dept
.
The man is getting old and ready to retire. I would assume he is building his nest egg.

5. Creepy

6. The only solution...

is to ENCRYPT EVERYTHING.

When the Cypherpunks were discussing their fears of government on their mailing list, some 20 years ago now, I thought their fears were perhaps a bit overblown. I thought they were perhaps a little too paranoid. In hindsight, I have to admit I was wrong -- as were they -- if anything, they weren't paranoid enough. It used to be commonly accepted that the government would target certain individuals and groups -- it was widely believed that this was being done. Even the most paranoid of the Cypherpunks would have dismissed outright the idea that the government would be spying on EVERYONE -- this was considered infeasible. Fast forward 20 years, and here we are. When that data centre in Utah goes online, they'll be vacuuming-up all traffic that transits the United States.